Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

Born into an eminent family of religious scholars in Beirut, Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Al-Kabbani is a world-renowned Muslim scholar, author, and lecturer.

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani received his Islamic Law (Shariah) Degree in Syria (Damascus). He also studied deeply the subject of Islamic spirituality under two internationally renowned Naqshbandi spiritual guides, namely, Shaykh Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani and Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the American University of Beirut and also studied medicine in Lowain, Belgium.

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani is Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA), a non-profit religious organisation based in Washington DC. ISCA has spearheaded a number of peace initiatives, hosted notable conferences, actively engages in inter-religious dialogue, and promotes traditional and moderate Islamic views within and outside of USA. ISCA has addressed numerous world bodies such as the United Nations and continues to advise the United States Department of State on issues regarding Islam, religious tolerance and terrorism. The organisation was a key adviser in the formation of US foreign policy on Kosova, and has recently paved development and trade resources for Muslim-populated newly independent states of former Russia.

For many years Shaykh Hisham Kabbani has publicly condemned all acts of terrorism and the use of Islam to promote terrorist agendas. He has worked ardently to help people all over the world, from all walks of life, better understand the moderate, tolerant nature of traditional Islam, as practiced around the world.

In this role of spreading the message of Islam and peace, Shaykh Hisham Kabbani has met with many heads of state like President George Bush, President Bill Clinton, President Bambang Yudhoyono (Indonesia), Vice-President Jusuf Kalla (Indonesia), Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi (Malaysia), President Hamid Karzai (Afghanistan), Prime Minister Recep Erdogan (Turkey) and many more.

Books
Shaykh Hisham Kabbani writes extensively and has published the following notable books:

Who are the Guides? Institute for Spiritual & Cultural Advancement, 186 pgs, 2009.

The Naqshbandi Sufi Way – History and Guidebook of the Saints of the Golden Chain. Kazi Publications, 469 pgs, 1995.

Shaykh Hisham is on the boards of a number of organisations that promote the tolerance and moderation inherent in traditional Islam:

Advisor to Sufi Muslim Council (United Kingdom)

Co-Chair, Council of Muslim Leadership

Chairman, Islamic Supreme Council of America

President, The Muslim Magazine

U.S. Leader, Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order

Chairman, As-Sunnah Foundation of America

Chairman, Kamilat Muslim women’s organization

Advisor, UnityOne – an organization devoted to ending gang violence

Advisor, Human Rights Council, U.S.A. for supporting the establishment of human rights and freedom in all nations.

Advisor, American Islamic Association of Mental Health Providers.

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani has also addressed students and academics at many universities like Oxford, Harvard, Columbia, UC Berkeley, UCLA, McGill, Georgetown, etc.

In his ongoing efforts to unite, educate and serve Muslims, Shaykh Hisham Kabbani founded several national organisations like the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA), As-Sunnah Foundation of America (ASFA), and KAMILAT (Muslim women organisation). As founder of KAMILAT, he has brought challenges faced by women and families to the forefront of Muslim consciousness. His strong commitment to gender equality and continuous support of women’s rights to education, inclusion in politics, policymaking and all levels of community affairs, paved the way for KAMILAT to co-host the 2nd International Islamic Unity Conference ’98 in Washington DC. “The Role of Women in Building the 21st Century” featured experts from around the world and a dozen panels on contemporary Muslim-specific issues. He is also founder and publisher of The Muslim Magazine, which was launched in 1998.

In addition to being interviewed by and reported on by almost every major daily newspaper in the USA, including an exclusive feature in Newsweek magazine, Shaykh Hisham Kabbani has been featured on CNN, C-Span, A & E and the Odyssey Channel. His efforts have been lauded by the US Senate, the US Congress, the Governor of California, the California State Senate and the National Press Club.

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani has spent his life spreading the teachings of peace, tolerance, respect and love, which are the message of Islam, throughout the world. He continues to disseminate the light and peace of Islam’s spiritual dimension to people of every background, ethnicity, race and belief.

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani’s mission is to spread the peaceful and beautiful Islamic teachings of the brotherhood of mankind and the Unity of belief in Allah. His efforts are directed at bringing the diverse spectrum of religions and spiritual paths into harmony and concord, in recognition of mankind’s responsibility as caretaker of this fragile planet and of one another. His arduous spiritual training of 40 years has endowed him with the sublime qualities of wisdom, light, intellect, and compassion. Shaykh Hisham Kabbani’s outreach mission is his unique contribution to the Endeavor of Humankind in reaching for its highest destiny – nearness to Allah the Almighty.

May 2006 – Keynote speaker at the International Sufi Symposium held in San Jose, California.

March 2006 – Met with staff of No 10 Downing (United Kingdom’s Prime Minister’s Office), to present his views on the situatio of Islam in the UK and Europe.

February 2006 – Met personally with U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney to present his views on the cures of Islamist radicalism.

February 2006 – Met with Ms. Fran Townshend, Assistant to the U.S. President for Homeland Security, and her deputy, Mr. Juan Zarate, to also discuss the cures for Islamist radicalism and responses to the “cartoon controversy”.

July 2005 & Jan 2006 – Held private meetings with President Susilo Bambang Yudiyono of Indonesia and Vice President Yusuf Kalla to strengthen ongoing joint projects on “Jihadi rehabilation” for Indonesian youth.

April 2005 – Met with England’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to discuss current situation of Islam in Europe.

March 2005 – Attended White House Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Leadership Conference and met with President Bush at a round table on the initiative.

January 2005 – Gave keynote speech at the International Sufi Booksellers conference in Florida on “Importance of Spirituality and Culture in Modern Life”; conducted book signing.

December 2004 – Chief guest and speaker “Global Challenges in Islam” Seminar, Singapore. Over three days spoke in three different religious forums. Met with Singapore’s Minister of Muslim Affairs, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Zainul Abidin Rasheed and officials from the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS).

December 2004 – Met with Rohan Gunaratna, Head of International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (Singapore), to discuss methods for promoting traditional Islam and assisting to rehabilitate terrorists.

December 2004 – Principal keynote speaker and host, International Conference of Scholars and Activists, Jakarta, Indonesia under the theme “Islam & Civil Society in the 21st Century: A Path to Transformation” addressing the topic “Principles of Leadership in War & Peace” detailing the illegitimacy of terrorism and the prohibition of suicide as a means of combat in Islam. Addressed the Friday sermon at two of Jakarta’s largest mosques and hosted during the conference, HRH Prince Raja Muda Nazrin Azlan Shah, Pro-Chancellor, University of Malaya and Crown Prince of Malaysia’s state of Perak, Dato Hishammudin Tun Hussein, Malaysia’s Minister of Education, Dato Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Malaysia’s Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, Shaykh Hazyim Muzadi, Head of Indonesia’s largest NGO, Nahdatul Ulama, US Ambassador B. Lynn Pascoe and other dignitaries at the conference.

December 2004 – Met with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla at his home in Jakarta to discuss issues of state.

November 2004 – Guest at the White House for the President Bush Annual Ramadan Dinner.

August 2004 – Attended Sidi Shekir Conference on “Importance of Spirituality in Human Affairs,” in Marrakech, Morocco, under the patronage HRM King Mohamad VI and the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

June 2004 – Keynote speaker at the northern California-based Islamic Educational and Cultural Research Center (IECRC) second annual conference.

June 2004 – Met with His Excellency Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan and presented him with an invitation to Islamic leaders’ conference, Indonesia, winter 2004.

May 2004 – Keynote speaker at Universal Muslim Association of America in Washington, DC. Topic: “Extremism is inconsistent with Islam.”

May 2004 – Keynote speaker at Islamic Studies and Research of Association in Columbia, SC. Topic: “Classical Islam: religion of mercy.”

April 2004 – Keynote speaker at conference, “Beyond Radical Islam?” held by LeFrak Forum and Symposium on Science, Reason, and Modern Democracy at Michigan State University and the Ethics and Public Policy Center of Washington, DC.

February 2004 – Led an international delegation to Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. In Thailand presented a paper at the Thailand Leadership Forum, toured Buddhist shrines and met religious leaders; Performed Celebration of Remembrance with 140,000 students in Indonesia’s Istiqlal Mosque; met privately with Malaysian Prime Minister His Excellency Dato Seri Abdallah Badawi.

January 2004 – Met with His Excellency Recep Tayyib Erdogan Prime Minister of Turkey to discuss building interfaith dialogue between US academics and scholars and their Turkish counterparts.

January 2004 – Keynote speech to annual board meeting of the American Foreign Policy Council.

December 2003 – Represented US Muslims at 3-day interfaith conference of international religious leaders held in Spain.

October 2003 – Joined President George W. Bush for Iftar at the White House. Gave the keynote address at the Nixon Center conference on Sufism and US Policy.

July and October 2003 Led two international delegation to Indonesia and Malaysia to meet with government and religious leaders as part of a campaign against religious extremism; addressed more than 100,000 Muslims in Indonesia’s Mosque Istiklal, calling for religious tolerance, and opened a new institute dedicated to teaching classical Islam.

May 2003 – Spoke at Conference on Islam and America, sponsored by the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, DC.

May 2003 – Addressed conference of federal prison chaplains sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in Ann Arbor, Michigan; warned of danger posed by extremists within federal corrections system.

January-February 2003 – Traveled across the U.S. to convene grassroots coalition meetings and community watch groups to prevent the rise of religious extremism and to promote traditional Islam.

November 2002 – Met with President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell, respectively, at White House and State Department events for Ramadan.

September 2002 – Met with President George W. Bush for his official Proclamation of the Days of Remembrance and Prayers September 6-9, 2002.

August 2002 – Invited as a guest of the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, to visit the republic and explore issues of religious educational development.

July 2002 – Presented a paper entitled “Understanding Sharia” at the Freedom House conference in Washington, DC, as well as a paper on “Islam and Democracy” for the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

March 2002 – Met with Asst. Secretary of Defense, Mr. Paul Wolfowitz and his staff to introduce the activities of ISCA and its promotion of moderate Islam throughout the world.

March 2002 Guest speaker at the American Society for Industrial Security on the topic of “Traditional Islam in the U.S.”

February 2002 – Signed Memorandum of Understanding with State Minister of Indonesia on the building of civil society infrastructure and the promotion of traditional Islam.

February 2002 – Met with Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Minister of Youth for Malaysia to discuss issues facing the Muslim world after 9-11.

September 2001 – Advised numerous government agencies on issues of national security as it relates to radical religious insurgents, both domestically and abroad.